The birth of the gangster, the women’s movement, a raucous 1920s backdrop – no wonder Scorsese signed up for Boardwalk Empire

B
oardwalk Empire is about as perfect a pitch as you can get: Martin Scorsese
directs Steve Buscemi in a 1920s gangster script by the Sopranos scribe
Terry Winter, all produced by HBO in one of the most expensive television
dramas ever made. You don’t need to sell someone that. You’ve got them at
hello.

It was Scorsese who rescued gangsters from cartoon oblivion with Goodfellas in
1990, bringing a raw brutality back to a genre that seemed trapped in ritual
— the spaghetti, the phone call, the restaurant hit. A decade on, however,
it was Terence Winter, with The Sopranos, who rescued gangsters from
Scorsese. Tony Soprano’s greatest moments came when he wrestled with his
domestic issues — kids playing up, nagging mother, angry wife — and his
resulting struggle through therapy. He was like Peter Parker struggling to
keep his job and pay his rent with the Spider-Man suit tempting him from